Life Thrives On Darkest Light
by anakin20ellyn
Summary: So this started as a fan fiction and it kinda evolved. So anyway, Summary! 19-year old Rebecca Bassett has a mysterious illness and asks her sister to set up a "party" to meet her favorite actors. However, Benedict Kingston, an up and coming actor, receives his invitation too late. He decides to go to America to meet her, only to find she died. Zombies and Vampyres included!
1. Prolouge

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

"What do you mean I can't go?!" Benedict yelled at Mr. Ruderfer as they walked from the producer's trailer.

"You didn't give me a two days notice!" he yelled back. Benedict Kingston, an actor that was becoming well-known throughout the world, had been invited to meet a certain girl. This may seem, to most of you, that he only cared about meeting this girl for his own purposes, however that is not the case. On the contrary, Benedict was invited to meet a girl who had contracted a very rare disease, so rare that there was no cure. All he knew was that she was dying and her sister, Christine, had invited him, as well as others, to meet her.

The only problem with this was that Benedict had received the invitation the day of the event, in America. Now all he had to do was convince the producer and the director to let him go and visit her. When he had asked the producer, he was not given a straight answer, meaning, as everyone knew, no. Mr. Ruderfer now was rejecting the notion altogether.

"Benedict, you, as well as everyone here, know that I need at least a two days notice. I can't drop everything on the spot just to let you leave. I'm sorry Benedict, but no. You can't go. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Mr. Ruderfer left Benedict to go talk to a group of people standing outside the stage door. Benedict sighed and walked to his trailer after telling one of the many PA's. He looked at the letter once again, reading the cursive handwriting.

Mr. Benedict Kingston,

You are invited to meet my sister, Ms. Rebecca Bassett on September 21st, 2017 at Unity Hospitals in Lanstone, Ohio. We would be honored if you can make it, especially her. Sadly, Rebecca contracted this very rare disease that is killing her and apparently there is no known cure for it. This is one of her last wishes. Please contact me at the number below and let me know if you will or will not be able to attend.

Sincerely,

Christine Bassett

Benedict grabbed his mobile from his nightstand and typed in the number. The phone rang twice before a stern female voice answered.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hello. This is Benedict Kingston. I will not be able to attend."

"Obviously, seeing how it's almost over."

"I just got the invitation today. The producer and director are not allowing me to leave. If only I had gotten the invite a few days earlier, I definitely would have been there."  
"Then it's a shame. If only we had a time machine," she snapped.

"Would it be possible for me to come and visit her personally?"

"Sorry no. The doctors are moving her to a secluded area of the hospital tomorrow. Today was the last day for visitors."

"How about I talk to her over the phone?"

"No. She will be completely isolated. Not even my father and I will be able to talk with her," she said, hatred dripping her words, "Goodbye, Mr. Kingston."

She hung up. Benedict sighed deeply. He tossed his mobile on the bed, where it bounced onto the floor and ruffled his light ginger curls in frustration. Realising that he barely knew anything about Rebecca, Benedict got out his laptop and began to do a little research. About 20 minutes later, a knock interrupted his concentration.

"Mr. Kingston, you're required on Stage 10," yelled a muffled voice.

Benedict grabbed his phone from the floor and made his for the stage.

_The nerve of that man. How could he do that to Rebecca? Best not to tell her._ Christine thought as she slipped her phone into the back right pocket of her jeans and made her way back to her sister's room.

Mr. Colle was putting on his coat as he said his goodbyes to Rebecca. The other guests had already left, but he insisted that he wanted to spend a little more time with Rebecca. He was a simple man with a rather big nose and chin, brown eyes framed by dark rimmed square glasses, somewhat fit, tall, and had dark brown hair. Mr. Colle shook Rebecca's weak hand, saying how honoured he was to meet her, and bid her and Christine a final farewell. As soon as he had left, Christine closed the door and turned to face her sister.

Rebecca was a very pale, lanky girl with frail red hair, thinned from the endless treatments, which in the end, had made her weaker than the actual disease. Her light grey eyes had dark circles underneath them from sleepless nights she started to have. Whenever she would now smile, there was a pained expression hidden behind her happy one. Christine always tried to remember when Rebecca's smile once had true happiness, but never could seem to remember.

Rebecca's inquisitive eyes followed her sister as she sat down on the couch covered in blankets and pillows across from her bed.

"Could I call dad?" Rebecca asked, wincing at the weakness overpowering her voice.

"Sure," Christine said as she got up from the couch, handing Rebecca her cell phone.

"May I speak in private?" Rebecca asked.

This caught Christine off guard. Rebecca usually had no problem talking to their father in front of her, but Christine left the room, closing the door behind her. After Christine left, Rebecca pressed the button to redial the last number Christine had called; she didn't have any other reason to not believe it was her father. Christine always left the room to talk to their dad, so Rebecca was shocked when a deep, smooth, baritone voice with a light British accent instead of her father's gruff bass. It was foreign to her, and yet it sounded vaguely familiar to her.

"Hello?" the voice answered.

"Hi, sorry, is my father there?" Rebecca asked, cursing inwardly at the weakness laced in her voice.

"Not that I know of. May I ask who is speaking?" the voice asked politely.

"My name is Rebecca Bassett. Who is this?"

There was a pause. Rebecca asked if he was still there and when he answered, his voice was full of happiness that it flowed from the phone into Rebecca's room.

"Ms. Bassett, I am Benedict Kingston and I cannot tell you how glad I am that I am speaking with you."

Something sparked in her.

"Mr. Kingston?" Strength found its way back into her voice as she smiled, despite her being completely shocked to be talking to a celebrity such as him.

"Yeah. I am so sorry I could not make it to your meeting."

"Well, maybe this makes up for it," she said.

He laughed lightly and asked the inevitable question, "How are you feeling?"

"Surprisingly better. How about you?"

"I'm pretty good. I just wish I was there physically talking with you, however the producer and director don't agree with me."

"When did you get the invitation?"

"Today."

"Ah. That's understandable."

"Really?" Confusion filling his voice.

"Yeah. It's hard to reschedule everything just so it accommodates one person. Actors used to do that where I used to work."

"Where did you work?"

"At this small local theatre backstage as the props manager."

The two continued their conversation over the next few hours. Christine occasionally checked in on her younger sister; she used to never talk this long with their father, or bear the smile from so long ago that was full of pure happiness when speaking to their father.

'_Who is she talking to?' _she asked herself. Christine continued to think to herself as she walked to the hospital's cafe.

"I'm so glad I got to speak with you, but sadly, I've got to go."

"Thank you for talking with me," Rebecca said.

"I'll try to come and visit you soon."

"I'm looking forward to it. I still don't know why my sister lied to you about that. The doctor's haven't really paid any attention to me since last month."

"She probably doesn't like me because I couldn't come."

"Christine became very protective over me since the doctor told my father 5 months ago."

"It's understandable. Anyway, sorry again for not making it. I will definitely come as soon as I can."

"I look forward to it," Rebecca said, feeling the strength she gained from the conversation diminish.

"Talk to you soon, Rebecca. Goodbye," Benedict said.

"Bye."

Rebecca heard the phone click and placed it on the nightstand next to her bed. The spark had completely vanished as she adjusted herself on the bed. Something twitched in her heart and then it began to race.

As everyone scrambled around her, racing to save her life, Rebecca felt a defibrillator against her chest and then a jolt of electricity flowed through her. Her heart took the electricity and caused it to move faster. She couldn't take it anymore. Rebecca let the pain take over her and her heart began to slow. She felt someone grab hold of her shoulders, screaming at the top of their lungs. Numbness took over her body and with one more faint beat of her heart, Rebecca was gone.


	2. The Funeral

**Chapter 2: The Funeral**

The Bassetts quickly put the funeral for their youngest daughter together within the next week. The eldest daughter, Christine, wanted to invite all those had made it to the meeting, but only one couple could make it: the Colles.

The funeral was held on Thursday, September 31st, 2017. Benedict could feel something wrong as he finished the last scene of the day. He called David, who he knew was also invited to Rebecca's party and found out the grim news. After packing a small backpack of clothes for the next few days, Benedict quickly left the set. He got in a taxi, and made his way to the airport for the plane he had scheduled to leave for the small town of Lanstone. After landing in the airport that was half an hour away from Lanstone, Benedict quickly changed into the suit he brought and had the taxi drive him directly to the funeral home that David had mentioned.

He arrived just as the friends and family of Rebecca were arriving. Quickly finding David in the crowd, Benedict asked him what exactly happened to Rebecca.

"No one knows," David said, keeping his voice quiet, "The family hasn't released any details on how she died except that she died around 11 on Tuesday last week."

"Tuesday last week?!" Benedict said, shock filling his voice, but he kept it from rising above the whispering level.

"Yeah. Apparently, she was on the phone when Christine left and when she returned the doctors announced her death. I feel bad for whoever was talking to her. She must've died before she could finish the conversation."

Benedict fell into the chair that was positioned behind him.

"What?" David asked.

"I talked to Rebecca on Tuesday. That was me she was on the phone with," Benedict said, his voice breaking with guilt.

"So that was you she wanted to talk to," a stern female voice said behind David. David quickly moved out of the way to reveal a tall woman.

"Oh, Christine, I didn't see you there."

Her dry black hair went just a bit beyond her shoulders, framing her roundish face. She wore heavy make-up, which almost hid the true shape of her eyes, but enhanced the shape of her Cupid's bow lips and sharpened her soft cheek bones. The woman wore a simple black dress with a black business jacket. A simple silver cross on a small chain rested below the light tan skin of the hollow of her neck.

"Uh, I'm going to go find Rosanna," David said, then quickly retreated into the crowd.

"I presume you are Benedict Kingston?" she asked.

Benedict rose from the chair and held out his hand, "Yes, I heard of Rebecca's passing and I came to pay my respects."

After a short silence, she simply said, "Follow me."

She led him through the massive crowd and out onto the back porch of the funeral home. After Benedict walked out, she slammed the door behind him.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked him.

"Paying my respects."

"To a girl you barely know? You couldn't even get away from your job to visit a girl that was dying. You are not welcomed. Leave. Now."

"I knew her enough, and I did try my hardest to get away. I risk everything for coming to her funeral. Truth be told, I would rather be here than on the set."

"Well, apparently, you didn't try hard enough. Don't even bother coming back inside."

With that, she opened the door and went inside, leaving Benedict on the porch.

_What am I going to do now?_ He thought to himself as he walked away from the funeral home. Benedict thought about what had transpired to him as he walked along the roadside. First he had left the set early this morning to catch the early flight he had secretly scheduled, thus ending in him getting an angry phone call from Mr. Ruderfer stating that he was fired. Second he had to eat a small breakfast before getting on said flight. And now he was kicked out of the funeral of the girl who had spent the last hours of her life talking with him over a phone.

That was what hurt the most.

_She should have been talking with her family, not me, _he thought to himself. Shaking that thought aside for the time being, Benedict made his way towards the first hotel he could find. It was about 8:30 at night when he arrived at the Leisure Palace. The blonde receptionist looked over the man as he walked up to the desk where she was seated. His appearance was absolutely breathtaking: light ginger curls, light tan skin, catlike blue-green eyes, a proud nose, impossibly high cheekbones, and Cupid's bow lips. He easily towered over her, but that was nothing out of the ordinary, seeing how she was only 5'4. His tailored suit easily stated that he had a well-paying job.

"What can I do for you?" she asked in her light voice.

"I'd like a room for the next two days."

"Would you like a master suite?"

Benedict thought for a moment, something telling him to go with the suite, so he did. The receptionist smiled and handed him the glossy green card key that bore the name of the hotel within golden swirls to his suite.

"Here you are sir. Please be careful not to lose that," she said in a light voice, her moss green eyes beaming up at him.

"I will try," Benedict replied with a small smile. He grabbed his backpack and entered the lift. On the top floor, rising 60 stories, Benedict entered his room, shocked to find it as luxurious as it was. Upon entering room 6608, Benedict found himself entering a smallish living room, complete with two couches and a wooden coffee table. The floor length windows allowed the moonlight to fill the room. A small kitchenette was positioned directly to the left as one would enter the room. A door to the far right led into a bedroom that was illuminated by the moonlight as well. Benedict sighed, placed the key in his pocket, and threw his bag onto one of the couches. He ran his hand through his ginger curls and left his room. As the lift's doors opened, Benedict caught sight of David and Rosanna entering their room at the end of the hallway. Not wanting to bother them, Benedict entered the lift and began the descent of 60 floors.

* * *

**So how are you guys liking this story? Let me know. :)**


	3. And So It Begins

**Chapter 3: And So It Begins**

Benedict arrived at the old graveyard at a little bit after 9:00: He was quite grateful there was only one in Lanstone. The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the land of the dead. He made his way through the gravestones and eventually found Rebecca's grave at the far end of the graveyard near the forest. Flowers draped over the stone, ranging from tulips to roses: Their sweet fragrance filling the air around him.

Something inside Benedict snapped and he fell to his knees. Tears filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks. He sat there for what seemed an eternity, but was probably about 25 minutes. He didn't know what to say. Christine was right: He did barely know Rebecca.

In the few hours that they had spoken, Benedict never learned a single thing about her family, but that was because she didn't wish to speak about them. When she had requested that, Benedict could swear there was a notion that she didn't want to think about them.

_Maybe she knew she was dying,_ he thought. Rebecca, when she had answered, sounded really weak, but she hid that as soon as he had stated his name.

_Nonetheless, she should have spent that time with her family._

His eyes were now red and swollen from crying as he got up from kneeling on the ground, his room key falling to the damp grass oblivious to him. He began to walk away when a sound like that of a bass drum vibrated the ground beneath his feet. Walking back to Rebecca's grave, Benedict lowered to the ground and placed his hand on the fresh-turned dirt of the grave. The sound vibrated the ground again and Benedict heard a faint _THUD_ underneath him. He couldn't think, instinct now taking over. He ran away from the grave and the graveyard, key forgotten. After waving down a taxi, Benedict made his way back to the hotel.

* * *

A red fingernail hand covered in blood burst from the grave and clawed at the ground as another one followed. Slowly, as the hands grabbed the ground, a body followed the same path as the hands. As soon as her feet were free from the ground, she rested on the cool, damp grass in the moonlight. A small glimmer of light caught her eye and she turned to face it. It was Benedict's forgotten key. Her new eyes were blurred from the escape, but she could faintly make out two words written in fancy cursive: _Leisure Palace._

She took a deep breath, her lungs filling with a strange kind of smell: A sort of toned down mint. Closing her eyes and taking another deep breath, she could mentally see a path that led away from the graveyard and into the city. Firmly holding the card in her hand, she got up from the ground and clumsily made her way through the maze of gravestones. She wasn't halfway through the graveyard when she kicked off her heels and continued at a faster pace, following the scent.

* * *

Benedict entered the hotel, adrenaline still pumping through him but he was thankful that it was dissipating. He got into the lift and made it to his room, but as he placed his hand in his pocket to get his key, he realised it was gone. He angrily sighed at himself and made his way downstairs.

* * *

She arrived at the Leisure Palace a little bit after 10:00. The receptionist eyed her as she went into the stairwell, but said nothing. The scent wasn't in the staircase, but it was getting stronger the higher she went. On the top floor, she made her way to the room on the left side of the hall, far from the lift. The thick metal door bore the dark brass 108 and a key card slot. She pushed the card into the slot and the door clicked lightly, allowing her passage into the moonlit room.

* * *

Benedict approached the receptionist desk where the blonde lady sat, typing away on the computer.

"Hi, um, I lost my card," Benedict said softly.

The receptionist looked up at Benedict and saw underneath his light ginger curls that his eyes were red.

"Don't worry about it. I'll make you a new one," she said. She typed the code into the computer and placed a blank card into the machine hidden under the counter. "How do you like your room?"

"It's really nice. I've never been in one like it before," he said quietly.

"We're the only hotel in the city, so we have to accommodate for anyone that might show up. I mean we have a renowned actor and his wife on the same floor as you."

"David and his wife. Yeah, I know them."

"Personally?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah. David became my best friend when we were working on_ Hell's Mouth_."

"You were in _Hell's Mouth_?"

"Yeah. It was the first big role I ever did."

"Oh," she said. She handed him the new key card.

"Good night," Benedict said taking the card. The lights within the lobby began to flicker. Benedict decided it would be better to take the stairs in case the electricity shorts out. As he neared the 50th floor, already winded from the tedious climb, the voice of the receptionist poured into the stairwell.

"Everyone, get to your rooms and barricade the do-" her voice was cut off by a growl, then a short scream, concluded by a gurgling sound. The adrenaline returned and Benedict rushed the last ten floors. As he ran down the long hallway to his room, a creature grabbed his leg, causing him to collapse onto the rough carpet. The creature at his legs clawed into his skin, causing blood to fly onto the walls. The pain was excruciating, causing Benedict to scream out in agony.

The door to his room swung open and a loud hiss sounded above him just as the creature was going to bite his leg. Claws retreated from him as someone pulled him over their shoulders and took him into his room. The door was slammed shut and he was gently laid down onto one of the two couches. As the person tilted his head back, Benedict's mouth was filled with a sour, copper taste laced with a little bit of dirt. He was forced to swallow, and when he did everything came back into focus.

The pain was gone, but he was still a bit weak so he decided it was for the best that he stayed on the couch.

"Are you alright?" a raspy feminine voice asked him. It almost sounded as if she hadn't spoken in years.

He looked up and studied his savior. In the moonlight, the woman, standing at 5'9 before him was gorgeous: Thin, but yet curvy; wavy, deep, dark brownish-red hair matted with mud falling below her waist; light plush lips and a small soft nose. Her sweetheart top black dress clinged to her body tightly, ripped at the bottom and scattered holes throughout. Dirt covered her body from head to toe; in fact, her feet were completely covered in mud and blades of grass. However, what stood out the most about this woman was her sharp light grey eyes, shaped like a feline's, giving her a threatening deposition, yet at the moment, they were full of worry.

"Mr. Kingston, are you alright?" she asked again, her voice a little more smooth.

"I'm fine. Wait... How do you know who I am?"

She smiled nervously. If she could have blushed, she most definitely would have been a deep scarlet.

"We have only talked once before, but I must say, I had expected different events for our first meeting."

Benedict looked at her in confusion. This couldn't be...could it?

He couldn't possibly believe that this was Rebecca. No, it couldn't.

The woman saw an internal conflict happening across his face. She knelt in front of him and looked into his eyes.

"Mr. Kingston, I do not know when we last spoke, but when we did, you said that you would come and visit as soon as you could."

"...Rebecca?" he asked her softly.

She didn't say anything, she just nodded. He shook his head and said, "This is impossible."

Confusion filled her face.

"How so? I'm right here. Alive."

"It's still impossible."

"Why?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE DEAD!" he snapped.

Rebecca stared at him, full of shock. She can't be dead, can she? Reaching through her blurred memories, Rebecca tried to find when she died, but nothing came to her.

"Do you know how?" Her now smooth voice barely a whisper.

'_She didn't know she died?'_ "No one does except the doctors as far as I know."

Rebecca said nothing as she walked over to the window. The city glowed a deep red from scattered fires. After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, Rebecca finally broke the silence, "Why were you alone in the graveyard?"

"Your sister wouldn't allow me near the funeral home after kicking me out, let alone your grave."

She sighed as she shook her head.

"What?" Benedict asked.

"It's just...before I got sick; Christine and I weren't very close. In fact, we hated each other. I can't believe she kicked you out of the funeral," she giggled softly. Benedict quickly realised something.

"Rebecca...how did you get in my room? Let alone get rid of that thing?" He gestured the door. Rebecca turned to face him.

"This will sound weird, but I followed a scent here and," she grabbed the key card off the coffee table and held it up for Benedict to see, "I found this on the ground in the graveyard."

Rebecca grabbed Benedict's hand and placed the card in it. Rebecca ran a hand through her matted hair, grimacing at her mud covered hand.

"Do you mind if I clean up?" she asked. Benedict nods and Rebecca runs off for the bathroom. Not long after she's gone, the hiss of the shower interrupted the silence.

'_She didn't answer my second question. Also, how did she follow my scent? Is she part animal or something?' _Benedict giggled at that last thought. He grabbed his bag and moved it into the bedroom. As he left the room, a black cloth on the floor caught his eye: It was Rebecca's dress.

He sighed and went back into his room and grabbed one of his t-shirts and placed it in the spot where her dress was. It was just a plain blue pajama shirt and it's long enough that it goes halfway down her thighs.

About forty-five minutes later, Rebecca entered the small living room in Benedict's shirt, her wet hair dampening it to the point of transparency, revealing her dark undergarments. She walked over to the kitchenette and grabbed a glass of water. Benedict broke the silence.

"Better?"

"Much."

After a few minutes, the silence between them was starting to get awkward.

"You didn't answer my other question."

"What was it?"

"How did you get rid of that thing?" Benedict asked again.

Rebecca looked away at the window as an explosion went off Downtown. She sighed as if she didn't know how to answer. This was confirmed when she softly responded, "I don't know."

"What was that thing anyway?"

"A zombie by the look of it."

Benedict chuckled, not believing her. Rebecca looked at him.

"I know what I saw. I'm just glad you healed."

Benedict stopped laughing, "What?"

"The zombie was clawing at your legs and I pried you away just before it bit you."

Rebecca pointed to one of the couches where the edge was heavily splattered with blood. Benedict's eyes widened.

"But...but... how can I walk around and not be in pain. If my legs were injured, how come I feel fine?" he said frantically.

"I healed you."

Benedict just looked at her and she looked away.

She sighed deeply, keeping her gaze off of him, and then spoke in a quiet whisper, "I used my blood to heal you. It was all I could think of what to do. You would have died."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know, but from what I can gather is that I...I...I'm a..." _vampyre_, she finished in her head.

"A what?" Benedict had a feeling of what she was going to say, but was still shocked when she said, "Vampyre."

A loud ringing sounded from the bedroom. Benedict ran off to get it. He dug out his cell and answered, "Hello?"

"BENEDICT, HELP US. THESE THINGS KEEP TRYING TO GET INTO OUR ROOM!" a man screamed as moans were heard in the background.

Benedict dashed out of the bedroom, only to find Rebecca gone.

"Rebecca?!"

The hallway door was wide open. Benedict ran over to the kitchenette and began to frantically search for a knife.

* * *

About 10 zombies were trying to enter the room at the end of the hallway. A growl ripped from Rebecca's throat as she rushed the zombies, decapitating a few as she crashed through the door. A blonde woman with light brown eyes and a small figure was helping the man, who, as it turns out, was David Colle.

"Pack a bag and get ready to run," Rebecca said seriously. The two rushed into the bedroom as Rebecca fought off the zombies. After she decapitated the last zombie, the Colles returned with backpacks over their shoulders.

"Come on," Rebecca ordered as she led them to Benedict's room. A zombie rushed David, knocking him against the wall, clawing his left arm. Rebecca grabbed the zombie and threw it against the opposite wall, ripping its head off, splattering blood over the wall, and tossing it to the floor. She glared at the two as they just stared at her in horror.

"David! Rosanna!" Benedict yelled from outside his room. David and Rosanna run to Benedict as Rebecca scouted the rest of the floor.

Benedict runs in after David and Rosanna collapse on the couches. Rebecca dashes in, shirt completely ruin with blood all over, and slams the door behind her, startling the three of them. Her eyes scanned Benedict and she asked, "Did you check the drawer next to the fridge?"

Benedict went and found a steak knife amongst spoons.

"There's only one knife."

Rebecca sighs, and then looks straight at the window across from her. She then proceeds to stride across the room, smashing one of the window panels with s with her fist. She turned to Benedict and said, "I'll be back," she paused, "Sorry about the shirt." With that, she jumped from window.

David rushed to Benedict's side and the two watched Rebecca fall to the ground below. After a minute, Rosanna's scream broke the two away from the window.

"Rosanna, what is it?!" David asked as he dashed to his wife's side.

"There's blood all over this couch!" she screamed frantically.

From what Benedict could make out from her response, her adrenaline rushed had finally dissipated. Benedict rolled his eyes before he said, "Sorry. I'll make sure not to bleed to death next time."

"This is your blood?!" David asked as he held his wounded arm to his chest, shocked.

"Yeah," Benedict said before taking off for the bathroom to grabbed towels. He changed into more comfortable clothes (some jeans and a plain white t-shirt) before returning to David and Rosanna with the towels and the shoelaces from his dress up shoes. As Benedict got the first aid kit from the kitchenette and sat down beside David, Rosanna got up and left for the bedroom.

"What happened?" David asked. Benedict wiped an alcohol wipe across the lacerations on David's arm. David responded by hissing in pain.

"I was running back to my room when a zombie knocked me over and began to rip up my legs," Benedict shuddered at the memory. David had not noticed and continued on the subject.

"Then how are you walking?"

"What?"

"You said that the _zombie_," David spoke the word with disgust, "ripped up your legs. Yet you are running around perfectly fine."

Benedict wrapped the towel around David's arm and tied a shoelace right below his wrist tightly, causing David to inhale sharply. Benedict then proceeded to tie the other shoelace right below David's bicep a little looser.

"Rebecca healed me," Benedict said as he cleaned up the first aid kit and bloody alcohol wipes, leaving David on the couch.

"How?" David asked.

"What?"

"How did she heal you?"

Benedict sighed. He couldn't tell him that Rebecca had used her blood to heal him, especially since David was just attacked by a zombie.

"I don't know," he lied gracefully.

"Really?"

"David, I was dying. My focus was completely gone as she fixed me up."

After a moment of silence, David asked in a hesitant whisper, "What is she?"

Benedict didn't answer for a while. He just stared out the window towards the city.

"Benedict. Answer me. What is she?"

"She's-help," Benedict faced David, "Get some rest. I'll stay on guard."

David gave up and left for the bedroom to join Rosanna. Once he heard the door click, Benedict sighed in relief. He grabbed the knife from the counter and sat with his back against the door. The hours molded together and soon Benedict found himself falling asleep. A loud THUD startled Benedict from his respite and his eyes soon found those familiar grey ones.

* * *

She landed on the ground with grace: Zombies fleeing her path as she walked. Rebecca made her way to Lanstone's downtown. As she walked by the many people, a few recognised her and ran away, fearing she was one of the undead. Rebecca laughed inwardly at human logic. Their primal sense to run away from danger. Compared to the zombies running around, Rebecca was better. She could at least control her urges. She did with Benedict-and David.

"Rebecca!?" someone gasped behind her. She turned to find one of her classmates: Lucas. He started talking, but nothing he was saying made sense to her. All she could hear was this deep, heavy pounding, and waves of some sorts.

Something snapped and Rebecca lost all coherent thought as she pinned Lucas against the side of the building. She bit into his neck, sucking the sweet red liquid. He struggled against her grip, trying his hardest to break free, but as time went on, his struggling got weaker and weaker until he stopped altogether. His blood stopped filling her mouth. She pulled away, relinquished her grip on Lucas as his lifeless corpse collapse onto the pavement. Rebecca wiped the blood from her mouth and continued on her way through the chaotic city. After a good half hour, Rebecca finally found the place she was looking for: A firearm and hunting necessity depot.

She broke the door in and grabbed one of the duffel bags from the hunting gear section. As she grabbed firearms, inspecting them thoroughly, she thought about how people were not attacking this store, grabbing all that they could.

'_Oh well. Their lost is my gain.'_ she thought. She grabbed the corresponding ammunition for the guns and bows. As she turned to leave, she paused and looked down at her garb. She was still in Benedict's shirt, completely ruined with blood and tears.

'_I can't keep wearing this.'_ Rebecca set the bag down and made her way back to the other side of the store where the feminine clothes were. She found combat boots, cargo pants, tank tops, sports bras, and figure hugging military jacket. Rebecca quickly changed and made her way to men's section. She then realized that she had no idea what any of their sizes were, so she just shrugged and decided that she would come back later.

On her way back to the hotel, Rebecca made a quick pit-stop at one of the grocery stores and picked up a few necessities for the next few days. After that, she threw the two duffel bags full of weapons, clothes and food over her shoulder and continued on her way back to the hotel. She scaled the side of the hotel effortlessly, reaching the room in less than a minute. As she entered the moonlit room, Rebecca found Benedict sitting against the door, knife in hand, and fast asleep. She softly smiled at him then proceeded to toss the artillery bag onto the floor, startling Benedict awake in the process, and placed the other in the counter next to fridge and began to unload the food.

Benedict rubbed the sleep from his eyes and let them refocus on Rebecca as she worked. She was now clad in dark grey denim skinny jeans with a black belt, dark combat boots, a black tank top that hugged her thin figure, and what looked like a black military jacket draped over one of the stools at the counter. Her dark red hair was pulled up into a high pony-tail.

"Hey," Benedict tiredly said, getting up from the floor.

"Hey," Rebecca smiled, "You alright? You don't sound too good."

"Just tired," he yawned.

"Thank god your suite has a huge kitchenette," said Rebecca as she closed the fridge.

Benedict walked over to the duffel bag on the floor and unzipped it, revealing the large amount of pistols and rifles with their corresponding ammunition, as well as an assortment of swords and knives.

"Where did you get all this?"

"A weapons depot. The city was in complete chaos; made it very easy to gain access to a lot of places, so I helped myself. Even stopped at a grocery store for some food," she smiled.

"Did you even help anyone?"  
Rebecca's smile faltered as she became silent.

"Well?" urged Benedict as the silence was becoming uncomfortable.

"Well what?" innocently asked Rebecca.

Benedict walked over to her, "Did you help anyone?"

Again, she dodged the question. Benedict grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye. Before he could ask her again, she shook off his hands and walked towards the window, keeping her back turned towards him. The fires from the city gave the room a warm glow, illuminating Rebecca's curves. Benedict felt his heart speed up as he looked at her stiletto, feeling confused by the emotions running through his head. He felt something for this vampyre, he was well aware that she could hear his heart, and yet he was angry with her unresponsive attitude.

"No. I didn't," she said softly, but anger laced every word, "You want to know why? Because even if I did, they would either question me endlessly about how I'm alive or try to kill me. I'm suppose to be dead remember? And seeing how this is a _zombie_ apocalypse, their mind, rational or irrational, would be telling them to run away at the first sight of me!" her voice started to break as she heard the cries of the people dying fill the space surrounding her. She collapsed on the floor as tears streamed down her face.

Benedict watched her as she cried. He had forgotten the fact that she was supposed to be dead. Sitting down next to her, he gently placed his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry."

Rebecca stayed quiet.

"Rebecca?" asked Benedict after a period of comfortable silence.

"Yes?"

"Is…is there something…else that happened?"

Rebecca took a deep breath and spoke in a voice that was barely audible, "I killed someone. Someone that I knew. I didn't mean to, it just…sort of happened."

She heard Benedict gulp and his heart raced, but his heart had been racing for a while now. She completely expected him to run away, to take David and Rosanna and attempt to get out of the city, away from all the zombies and her. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and hugged: Tightly.

He shivered at the temperature difference but kept his hold on her as tight as he could. Her skin wasn't as cool as he was expecting. He expected her to be as cold as a corpse, but instead she was just a bit cooler than a human. He also could faintly feel a heartbeat beneath her skin. Rebecca hugged him back gently, not wanting to crush him.

"You're a vampyre. It's to be expected."

"What?" she was taken back by his comment.

Rebecca pulled away so she could look him in the eye, "Benedict, how can you possibly accept the fact that I killed someone? Someone that I knew. And the fact that I had no control over it.?"

"Because I trust you."

"How? We barely know each other."

"I…I don't know why I trust. I just do. Since we talked, I couldn't stop thinking about you, no matter how hard I tried."

Tears threatened to fill her eyes again as their eyes met. He could see her pupils were dilated so far that there was only a thin ring of light grey, looking almost white. Benedict moved his hand to her chin, tilted her head up slightly and pressed his mouth to hers. After the initial shock wore off, Rebecca gently pushed back. Benedict lightly bit her lower lip and then had his tongue darted out across it, soothing where he bit her. She gasped as an electric shock shot through her. Her mouth opened to grant him access. Soon their tongues were in a gentle dance together. She snaked her arms around his neck as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him; the kiss becoming more ferocious and passionate by the minute as clothes were soon thrown upon the floor.

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed. Please let me know how you guys are liking the story.**


	4. Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be

**Chapter 4: "Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be."**

The next morning, Benedict woke up on the floor with a blanket thrown over him and a pile of clothes on the table. Rebecca's back was against the door, clad in the garb she was wearing last night when she had returned, all except for the jacket. The tank top showed that her arms were elegantly structured with pure muscle. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes.

"Morning," she said, "How'd you sleep?"

"Good."

"That's good. You might want to get dressed, that is unless you want David to see you stark naked," she ended with a giggle. He smiled at her and began to get dressed. David, hair flying in all directions and clothes muddled, walked into the living room just as Benedict finished with his belt.

"Good morning. Any trouble last night?" he asked in a tired voice.

"Nope," Rebecca answered, getting up from the floor.

"That's good. When did you get back?"

"About 2. There's food in the kitchen. How's your wife?"

"Rosanna? She's good. Still asleep though. Thank God it's over."

"It's not," Benedict said as he pulled his shirt over his head. As he ran a hand through his hair, trying to tame it, he made his way to the kitchen to make the coffee that Rebecca thankfully got last night.

"What do you mean it's not?" David asked.

"Benedict's right. This is not over. It's a full-on zombie apocalypse. The city was in complete chaos last night."

Gunshots sounded in the distance, causing the three to look out the shattered window.

"Ignore it."

"What? Why?" David asked.

"They're already dead," Rebecca said in a flat voice.

"How can you tell?" Benedict asked her.

A smirk formed on her face, "I can hear it."

"No you can't," David said in disbelief.

"Anyway, it's far in the city. We wouldn't be able to get to them in time, so it is a pointless notion," Rebecca then changed the subject, "Why don't you have breakfast? After everyone's done eating, I want to go through the weapons with you lot."

Benedict and David were finishing their food when Rosanna groggily walking in from the bedroom. David joined her as she ate, leaving Benedict and Rebecca alone.

"We need to get out of here," she whispered to him.

"I agree, but how? You're the only one here that can actually take down a zombie by yourself. Also, they seem to have taken over the entire hotel," he whispered back.

"True, but when I was on the ground, I noticed one of those contraptions that's used to wash windows. I could drop you off on the bottom and have you try and find a vehicle with its keys, but that would leave you vulnerable."

"I can fend for myself."

Rebecca looked at and shook her head, laughing.

"What?"

"It's just that I haven't seen you fight a zombie, let alone, just escape one."

"I do have some training in combat."

"Do you remember it?"

"Mostly. I took a hand-to-hand course a while back. Came in handy during some films that I did."

"What about those two?" Rebecca nodded towards the Colles.

"David is really good with guns. I don't know about Rosanna."

"How are you with guns?"

"I can handle some. I do know some archery as well."

Rebecca looked at him in disbelief.

Benedict shrugged, "I had too much free time and it was something I wanted to do for a while.—what about you?"

"My dad taught my sister and me all about firearms, archery, and hand-to-hand combat. We used to go hunting quite a lot."

After Rosanna finished eating, the three gathered around Rebecca as she went through the shotguns, the pistols, and the rifles she got as well as how to load and how to clean them. Like Benedict said, David knew exactly what he was doing. After that, she moved into hand-to-hand. Benedict was up first. He was rusty but quickly picked up everything as Rebecca hit him again and again. David was terrible at hand-to-hand, but what surprised everyone was that Rosanna almost beat Rebecca.

"Martial arts for the past 25 years," she explained.

"Why didn't you fight last night?" Rebecca and David asked.

"I was in shock. Couldn't think properly."

Rebecca shook her head at the irony and she and Benedict made their way to the bathroom, leaving David and Rosanna to practice. They decide to take a shower together to 'conserve water' (as they told the Colles), but really they wanted to be alone.

Afterwards, as Benedict went into the bedroom to clean up his stuff and get a change of clothes, Rebecca got dressed quickly and made her way to the living room. She came to dead stop: Rosanna was standing at the door, which was _wide open_, and David was missing, as well as a few pistols.

"Where's David?" Rebecca demanded.

Rosanna's attention snapped to Rebecca.

"He went to our room to get the rest of our stuff," she responded shyly.

"WHAT?! Close the door as soon as I'm out. Alert Benedict," Rebecca ordered as she picked a couple pistols and knives. Rebecca ran out of the room and quickly headed for David's room. As she searched the destroyed room, Rebecca did not find David. Then a yell came from the lifts.

"HELP!" the tenor voice screamed.

Rebecca found David hanging from the ledge in the lift, with, of course, zombies climbing up the sides. As she grabbed his arm, Rebecca found it rather hard to pull him up. As they began to walk away, a zombie grabbed her leg and dragged her into the elevator shaft, a yelp escaping her mouth. Acting as fast as she could, she screamed at David to run back to the room and started to fend off the hoard of zombies. After about 20 corpses fell to the ground floor, Rebecca could finally escape the shaft, only to find another crowd at the top. She fought them off as best as she could, but soon she remarkably grew tired and the crowd piled on top of her, ripping and biting her flesh. Her screams reached the residents of 6608, and Benedict could not stand it one more second. David tried to stop him, but to no avail. Benedict grabbed a rifle and a sword and rushed the hoard atop Rebecca. He fought them back enough to grab Rebecca and bring her back into the room.

"CLOSE IT CLOSE IT CLOSE IT!" Benedict screamed the second he got inside. Rosanna slammed the door against the corpses and David helped her brace it.

"You...idiot..." Rebecca strained to say before she lost consciousness in Benedict's arms. Zombies pounded against the door as Benedict rushed her into the bedroom, gently setting her down on the bed, and quickly retreated to help David and Rosanna fend off the hoard.

Later that night, Rebecca woke to a throbbing pain resonating throughout her entire body. Every time she moved, an electric shock would race through her limbs. Once she got over the pain, Rebecca could make out that her clothes had been reduced to her undergarments and her injuries had bandages on them. The only thing covering her on the bed was the thin sheet. She opened her eyes, which proved to be a challenge in itself, to the softly lit room. Drifting around the room, her eyes found Benedict facing the door in a chair. She winced and gritted her teeth as she attempted to prop herself up on her elbows without making. Sadly her endeavors fail as she groaned in pain, causing Benedict to stir. She took in the long white patches with large, dark, almost black, red bloodstains taped across her entire body, the bandages leaking blood onto the sheets that covered her body.

"You're awake," Benedict's low concerned voice piercing the silence. He got up from the chair, setting down the knife that was in his hand. As he turned to face her, his face told her that he was worried with how close she had come to actually dying. He knelt beside the bed near her head, folding his arms, and resting his head on them.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Rebecca's arms gave out, causing her to collapse back onto the bed with a groan of pain.

"Like I got ran over by fifty trains," she replied weakly, not meeting his eyes. Benedict brought his hand up to her cheek, lightly rubbing it with the back of his hand as she leaned into his touch. They stayed like that in comfortable silence until Benedict spoke again.

"Is…Is there anything I can do? To help?"

One thing instantly rose front and center in her mind, but she quickly shook her head to dismiss the thought. The only way he could really help was to let her feed on him and judging by her wounds, she would need a lot.

Realising what she was thinking, Benedict grabbed the knife from the chair and ran the blade across the palm of his left hand, wincing as the pain shot up his arm. Tossing the knife back on the chair, he caught her gaze. Her smoky grey eyes had been replace with blood red irises and slit pupils that were filled with and insatiable hunger as she stared at the blood trickling out of his palm. Rebecca quickly regained her mind.

"No," strained her voice.

Benedict moved his hand closer to her, fully offering his palm, "Rebecca, you need it."

"So do you. No, I'm fine," she responded stronger this time, edging away from him, causing her to fall to the floor with a loud THUD. Benedict raced to her side, gently picking her up, hissing as her skin made contact with his open wound, and placing her back on the bed.

"Rebecca, you are most definitely not 'fine'. You are too weak and are in desperate need of blood. I trust you. Take my blood," he ordered softly, looking her straight in the eye.

She whimpered, "No…I can't…I…I won't be able to stop. I'll kill you," her voice breaking as tears streamed down her face.

"I trust you," he said before bringing his hand to his lips, drawing blood into his mouth. He brought their mouths together, creating a seal, and forcing the coppery liquid down her throat. She snapped. Rebecca tore away from his mouth and lashed out at his long chorded neck, piercing the carotid artery with precision. He wrapped his arms around her, weaving his right hand into her soft hair and holding her close as she lapped up his blood. As she kept feeding, Benedict looked down at the wounds on her back through half-lidded eyes and saw the skin knitting itself back together, leaving no trace of any ghastly lacerations. He began to feel lightheaded.

"Rebec…ca…," he strained to say as he fell backwards, dragging Rebecca on top of him. Rebecca kept feeding until she noticed his breath becoming labored. She relinquished her grip and examined him; he was pale and had the most serene look on his face as blood lightly trickled out of his neck. Acting on instinct, Rebecca bit into her wrist, taking her thick blood into her mouth. She gently tilted his head up a bit, placed her lips to his, and forced the blood into his mouth, not pulling away until she heard him swallow. His once faint heartbeat began to beat faster. According to her own transformation, it would take about a week for the change to be completed; she just hoped that she could protect them for that long until they escaped this dreadful tower.

Blood trickled out of his mouth as he began breathing normally, making it clear he would survive. Knowing this, Rebecca pulled the sheets over them and curled up to his side, drifting off into a dreamless state.


	5. Humans, Zombies, and Vampyres: Oh My!

**Chapter 5: Humans, Zombies, and Vampyres: Oh my!**

Benedict woke the next morning in the warm arms of Rebecca who was sleeping peacefully with a smile etched upon her face. Carefully unwrapping himself from her arms, he could see her wounds had completely healed, leaving her skin flawless. She moaned at the lost of heat, curling into the sheets. He placed a gentle kiss to her temple and quietly made his way to the bathroom, noticing David asleep on the couch and Rosanna looking out the window as the sun was beginning to rise.

The light blinded him as he entered and flipped the switch in the small, white, windowless room. He desperately needed a shower, especially after last night. He set the water temperature to his usual setting: Not to warm and not to cold. As he entered, the water was at a scalding heat. Only the cold water seemed to be the best option as when it hit his skin, it soothed the sore muscles in his body.

After he finished, he wiped the condensation from the mirror, quickly noticing the bite mark where his neck and shoulder met, however it looked more like an old scar rather than a fresh wound. His gaze shifted to his hand where he had cut himself the night before; the cut was gone. Shaking his head, he exited the bathroom. As he entered the bedroom, Rebecca was stretching, smiling as she noticed him enter. He smiled boyishly and jumped on the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her, giving her a peck on the lips, "Good morning. I take it you are feeling better?"

She snuggled into his arms, "Much better. Thank you. And I see you are still amongst the living."

They both laughed lightly.

"Ahh, shame about the bed," Rebecca pointed out. The sheets were splattered with blood from the night before, both from Rebecca resting and feeding on Benedict.

"Well, I guess Rosanna will have to get use to sleeping on the couch as we don't exactly have housekeeping."

"Squeamish?"

"Oh yeah."

"What's with Rosanna? She has been trained in the martial arts for 25 years and yet, she's squeamish of blood and easily goes into shock."

"I have no idea. I'm confused by it too."

There was a knock at the door and the couple disbanded.

"Come in," the two said together. David walked in to check up on them.

Rebecca grabbed Benedict's arm, surprising him as her grip was warm whereas it was ice cold before, signaling with her eyes that David cannot see the blood.

Benedict scooted closer to Rebecca, "Morning. Any trouble?"

"Not really. There were a few close calls, but other than that," David said, "You're looking better."

"No thanks to you," snapped Rebecca, glaring at the brunette.

Silent tension filled the room.

"Soooo, I'll go make breakfast," David scurried away.

Benedict and Rebecca sighed and got off the bed to get dressed. After they were dressed, the two headed for the living room. David was cooking breakfast as Rosanna walked passed them to go grab a clean pair of clothes. As Benedict and David were starting to get into a deep conversation, Rosanna's blood-curdling scream protruded from the bedroom. She soon ran out, gun in hand, "There's blood all over the bed!"

"Rebecca was injured last night, remember? That's why you had to sleep on the couch," David shrugged.

"Nonononono. There's a lot more blood than what Rebecca could excreted!"

"Meaning?"

Rosanna shakily pointed the gun at Rebecca, "She's one of them."

Benedict and Rebecca laughed as David ran to the bedroom to confirm his wife's accusation. He was pointing a gun at Rebecca as he came back.

"Really?"

"She's right. Far too much blood for it to be from just you."

David then caught sight of the mark on Benedict's neck and out of pure rage, shot Rebecca in her abdomen, causing her to buckle over. Benedict punched David in the face, then went to Rebecca's side where she laid unmoving.

"She wasn't a zombie," pure hatred dripping off of Benedict's words.

"Yeah she was. She was bitten. Did her a favor before the change happened."

Benedict made his way to punch him again when Rebecca threw him aside and charged David, fangs bared. Acting as fast as he could, Benedict tried to pry her off of him. She soon relinquished her grip, causing the two to fall into the sunlight coming through the broken window.

Next thing the Colles knew was that they were completely alone in the main room, smoke rising to the ceiling. The duo looked at each other then began to search the suite.

* * *

"What was that about?" Benedict whispered to Rebecca as they lay in the tub. Rosanna had done a poor search of the bathroom and in giving up, turned off the lights again and closed the door, leaving the two in privacy. After the sunlight had hit them, they had retreated to the small room of darkness.

"I guess the myth about sunlight is true."

After another short silence, Benedict spoke.

"Rebecca...did…did I die last night?"

She shifted to make eye contact.

"Yes," she softly replied, "You…when you made me…..I…I took too much and you were going to die," her voice started to break, "I didn't think…"

Benedict hugged her, "I don't care."

"What?"

"Rebecca, like I said last night, I trust you. You saved me by doing what you thought was right. For that, Rebecca, I am grateful," he tilted her chin to meet her mouth in a sweet kiss, "Also, now we are equals."

This sparked an idea and Rebecca's eyes widened.

"We can leave," she said.

"Hm?"

"Remember the plan that we came up with earlier yesterday that I tossed aside?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"With you as a vampyre now, you can go to the roof and lower David and Rosanna down. I can get the van and we can finally escape!"

The bathroom door swung open, lights flaring on, and David appeared, "I thought I heard voices in here."

"David…"

"What are you, if not a corpse?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Vampyre."

David burst out laughing, "Vampyres? Those don't even exist!"

"And yet zombies do," it was Benedict's turn to roll his eyes.

"Mr. Colle, do you remember Rebecca Bassett?" asked Rebecca.

"Yeah. What about her?"

"Well, you're looking at her."

He just stared at her. Benedict tried hard not to laugh at the looked on his face.

"Mr. Colle," she said in the sweet innocent voice, adding a bit of weakness. She sounded almost exactly like she did on the phone when they first spoke.

"I got better. Turns out the disease was a blessing."

"Impossible."

"David, we're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. What exactly is impossible anymore?"

"How else do you explain the fact that she is alive, can fall from the top floor of a building and land without a scratch, has already healed from the fight last night, and can speak in complete sentences? Obviously, she is not a zombie," Benedict rolled his eyes.

David didn't say anything.

"This is what we were trying to tell you earlier before you shot her."

"Fine, but a vampyre? Seriously? They don't exist," David scoffed.

Rebecca got out of the tub and looked David in the eye. She smiled softly, placing her hand on his shoulder. Using her thumb nail, she nicked his skin, causing blood to slowly flow from the wound.

"Ow. What was that for?"

"Look into my eyes," she ordered. As he did, her light grey eyes swirled into a deep scarlet. Her pupils sharpened into slits like that of a feline. David's gaze switched to Benedict's eyes, which were the same red, however his pupils were completely gone.

Rebecca smiled, showing off the elongated canines, and asked, "Do you still believe vampyres don't exist?"

David opened his mouth, but no sound came out. _'Zombies and now vampyres. What next? The fucking tooth faery?' _David thought to himself. He shook his head.

"You know what? I don't care anymore," he said before he left the bathroom. After a minute, Benedict spoke, "He's telling Rosanna."

"And yet he didn't anything about you," she looked at him. His eyes had returned to normal, but the hunger still lingered.

"I'm fine for now."

"Maybe later, we can go into town and get something."

"That'll work," Benedict agreed, "We're low on ammo, so we might as get some more when we're out."

"Really? Shit. And the sun is still out."

"Maybe we can move around in the shade?"

"We can go through the sewers."

Benedict just looked at her, completely thrown off guard at her notion.

"What? When you think about it, the sewers allow easy travel without the risk of being hit by sunlight. Works all the time in the films and shows."

"You are a very peculiar girl."

"You're just getting this now?" she smirked.

He pulled her into a warm hug and gave her a short and sweet kiss. The two exited the bathroom and made their way for the main area of the suite. Rosanna caught sight of Rebecca and immediately threw her arms around her, saying, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright Rosanna. I should have told you guys when you first came to our room."

"How long have you been a vampyre?" David asked from the couch.

"Only a few days."

"Really? But you seem to know what you're doing."

"I used to read a lot of mythology and folklore books. Vampyres fascinated me. I read everything connected with them. However, I am tremendously glad that we don't sparkle."

All of them laughed, and then David caught something.

"Sorry, 'we'?"

"I'm one too," said Benedict from behind Rebecca.

"WHAT!?" Rosanna yelled, "SINCE WHEN!?"

"This morning," he mumbled, looking down at the floor.

David got up to and walked straight up Benedict, looking down at the man who was just a few inches shorter than him.

"What happened?" he said sternly.

Benedict sighed deeply, but Rebecca quickly cut him off, "Benedict forced me to feed on his blood last night when I was wounded from your stupidity, however I took too much and so I turned him in order to save his life."

Benedict wrapped his arm around Rebecca's waist and the Colles watched them.

"When did you two get close?" Rosanna asked.

The two glanced at each other and laughed nervously.

"Well?" David asked, crossing his arms. His stance reminded Rebecca of her father.

"We, uh, talked on the phone and-"

"The phone? You two talk on the phone and now you're together. I'm surprised that you guys haven't strangled each other."

Rebecca could not stand fighting David anymore, so she turned to Benedict and quietly mumbled, "I'm going down to the desk. Meet up with me when you're finished."

She quickly grabbed two swords, tying their cases to her belt, and quickly left the room in high tension.

"David, we talked a good 4 hours."

"4 hours? Oh then I guess everything is okay! How much older are you than her, hm? 10 years?"

"Six. David, when she had called me, she thought she was going to talk to her dad; however she ended up talking with me. Her sister wouldn't let me talk to her. I don't know why, but we just ended up talking about our interests, our jobs, and her family. That's all."

"That's all!? So, what, you just chat, meet the day of the apocalypse and her funeral, fall in love, and have sex? Oh yeah, it was very hard to _not _hear you."

"When she heard it was me on the phone, something changed in her and she managed to talk 4 hours without taking a break."

"And after that phone call, she died."

Benedict held up his hand to cut off David and tilted his head as if to hear something better. He shook his head and said, "Rebecca says that she could of die at anytime. It was completely coincidental. She only stayed alive that long because her sister made sure the doctors were always around to keep her alive," his brows came together, but they smoothed in a look of understanding, then he laughed slightly, "Yeah, I'll be down soon."

Benedict grabbed the last sword and the duffle bags, nodded at David and Rosanna, told them, "We'll most likely enter through the window," then left the two in 6608 and began his descent.

"This is not over!" he heard David yell behind him.


	6. In the City

**Should have probably said a warning about language. Oops. Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: In the City**

As he exited the stairwell, Benedict entered the now destroyed lobby. Behind the receptionist's desk, Rebecca had a frustrated look across her face as she was trying to navigate her way through something on the computer.

"So you really could die when you wanted?" asked Benedict as he approached her. She looked up at him.

"No. That was just to shut David up. I do not know much about what I had and truthfully, I don't care about it."

"What if you actually died? What if there was no apocalypse?"

"I would still be dead and we would have never would have met," stated Rebecca as she redirected her attention back to the computer.

Benedict walked around the desk to see the screen better, only to find the receptionist lying on the floor with her viscera and blood all around her.

Rebecca noticed that Benedict stopped and said, "She was like that when I got down her."

Sighing heavily, Benedict turned his attention back to Rebecca.

"So what are you trying to find?"

"The layout plans for the sewers. I already knocked down a few walls, but there are still a few more, so you'll have to be patient."

He left her alone, sitting in the other chair behind the desk. After what seemed like ages, he was starting to get bored, so he took this opportunity and went on the second computer. It started up and Benedict began to randomly roam the internet.

"Hey Rebecca?" he asked a few minutes later.

"Yes?"

"What was it like?"

"What?"

"The disease. I mean, what happened before you died?"

"You mean like symptoms?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you want to know?"

"I have nothing else better to do, so I thought I'd see if it happened before."

She looked away as she tried to remember, "...First, there were headaches, then I started getting sore every day. After that, I began to lose sleep. I stopped eating most of the time. At first, the doctors thought it was Mononucleosis, but slowly they were beginning to doubt their diagnosis," she turned to him, "How are you going to find it?"  
"I was going to cross your symptoms with vampyre legends."

"Seriously Benedict?"

"Yes, I want to see if this has happened before, which would explain the many legends just about vampyres. Also, if I don't really find anything that would mean that you are the first real vampyre in existence."

"And you the second," she pointed out before returning to her invasion on the city's records.

Benedict chuckled. As he scrolled through the search results, one in particular stood out:

"_Theories on the Origin of the Vampire._

_There are many myths around the origin of the blood-sucking fiend. One, for example, is witchcraft where witches would cast a curse upon those who disrespected them. The other theory is that a person contracts a disease that causes a change in the DNA of the host._

_One source believed that this disease allowed Vladimir the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula, to gain his vampyric traits. Historians found the journal of his youngest daughter, Sophamora, describing the strange disease. She stated in one of her entries that, 'a strange curse has been laid upon my father. He tells me that he feels like he can barely move and that the thunder in his head never stops. Father also has begun to eat less and less each day. I try to force him, but he simply will not eat. His screams penetrate the walls of my room at night when his dreams haunt him. I am beginning to fear that my father will not last these next few months.'_

_In a later entry, Sophamora stated that her father was 'screaming in agony as his heart gave out in his last moments.' Two days later, Sophamora wrote that she thought she saw her father in the courtyard, but he was covered in a scarlet liquid and 'his eyes glowed like that of a demon, red as hell itself.'_

_Vladimir was the first vampire sighting in history, however it could be argued that Sophamora was just hallucinating due to the mourning of her father's death as there are no more records of Vladimir after the sighting two days following his death."_

"Oh," Benedict couldn't believe it.

Rebecca cheered loudly as she found the plans and began to print them out.

"Rebecca," he gestured her.

"One second. Let me just get this all sorted."

She grabbed the papers from the printer, and then made her way to Benedict.

"What?"

"I think I found something. I can't be too sure because the details on how you died are still unknown, but this seems to be the same thing."

Rebecca peered over his shoulder and read the article.

"Huh, go figure."

"What?"

"Vladimir's little illness might resemble mine."

"Might? You don't remember?"

"If I had remembered than I would have told you when you had first asked about it."

He shrugged and turned off the computer, "Let's go."

Rebecca and Benedict walked through the first floor kitchen, quickly finding a manhole entrance right outside the back door in the shade. Lifting the metal cap with ease, Rebecca climbed down into the dark underworld of the city. After Benedict joined her, the two walked along the ledge of the sewer walls, avoiding the wretched water with debris floating by. They walked along in silence in the darkness. As they walked, they looked at each other, finding that their eyes were shining.

"Huh, guess we have tapeta lucida in our eyes," she said.

"What?"

"It's what animals have in their eyes to allow them to see in the dark."

"Ah."

A moment of silence passed between them. Not wanting it to go on, Benedict asked, "So, do you think your family is okay?"

Rebecca chuckled, "No doubt. In fact, my dad is probably shooting the heads off every zombie he sees, having a blast in the process. Christine is probably at his side too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Remember I told you that my family were hunters."

"Oh right," the silence threatened to return, "So, what did you family hunt before the apocalypse?"

"Just deer, ducks, the usual animals."

He shrugged, "Ok"

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just you know a lot about guns and how to handle them. Also, you have quite a bit of knowledge in hand-to-hand combat."

"Well, my father taught me how to use firearms for when we would go hunting, and I took archery lessons on my own time from a friend. As for the hand-to-hand combat knowledge, my sister insisted that father enlist the two of us in a self defense class."

"That makes sense."

"Yeah," she checked the map, "We gotta turn left up here-anyway, where did you learn how to fight?"

"Back when I did_ Hell's Mouth_, I had to learn how to fight for some scenes. Afterwards, I enjoyed it so much, I started taking a class."

"David obviously did not."

He laughed, "No, he did not. Anyway, that was before I took a bit of archery."

A few minutes later, they came across another manhole entrance.

"Here," Rebecca said, pointing on the map, "We should be near the grocery store."

She started to climb the ladder when Benedict pointed out, "Shouldn't we get the shopping after everything else?"

"Good point, but I'm just going to scout out above," she said as she slowly lifted the manhole cover. The sun was mostly down below the horizon, casting a deep orange glow over the city. The streets were deserted of people, and more importantly: Zombies.

"All clear," she whispered down to Benedict as she climbed out, setting the cover aside. Benedict soon joined her and the two made their way to the weapons depositary that Rebecca had visited before.

As they entered, they concluded that everyone, once they had regained their conscious, had come here to get supplies, although many failed due to the many corpses throughout the building. As they went through the ammunition and other accessories for their weapons, Rebecca asked, "Do you know David and Rosanna's sizes?" She had forgotten to ask them back at the hotel.

"Not really. Why?"

"Just thought that they would like some sensible survival clothes," she shrugged, "Why don't you go find something? I can handle this."

Benedict left her for the men's section, finding a pair of cargo pants, a plain black t-shirt, some combat boots, and a bomber jacket. As he grabbed and couple extra sets of clothes, he also found some holsters for some of the guns they had, so he grabbed those after strapping one to his left leg.

"Here, I found these," he said as he approached Rebecca who was grabbing another duffel bag from the racks. She smiled at him as she took in his new look.

"Those will work," she placed them in the bag with the ammunition and extra survival knives; "You look good."

He grabbed her waist and brought her into a sweet kiss, "So do you."

She kissed him again, "Let's go."

They grabbed the bags and made their way to the grocery store a few blocks down.

Like the depot, the grocery store had corpses lying around the store with blood splatter over the lot. Benedict and Rebecca quickly set to work collecting anything consumable that was clean of blood and filled the second duffel bag.

"What's the third bag for?" Benedict asked her as they left the store.

"For the last thing we need to pick up before we return to the hotel," she winked.

Duffel bags thrown over their shoulder and hand in hand, Benedict and Rebecca made their way through the streets. Suddenly, a whistling sound whizzed by Rebecca, ripping Benedict from her hand.


End file.
